Method and device for renewing a ballast bed

Abstract

In a method for the continuous renewal of a ballast bed ( 41 ) of a track from which the rails and sleepers have been removed, by carrying away old ballast ( 42 ) and depositing cleaned ballast or new ballast ( 44 ) on the underlying surface ( 46 ) from which the old ballast ( 42 ) has been removed, a removal device ( 22 ) which can travel in the working direction (x) continuously picks up the old ballast ( 42 ) of the ballast bed ( 41 ). The excavated material is conveyed away from the excavation area and possibly passed on for ballast cleaning At the same time, cleaned ballast or new ballast ( 44 ) is continuously deposited in the working direction (x) on the underlying surface ( 46 ) from which the old ballast ( 42 ) has been removed, to form a new ballast bed ( 43 ). The removal device ( 22 ), as part of an excavating machine ( 10 ) traveling in the working direction (x) on the old ballast bed ( 41 ), is arranged downstream of the running gear ( 14, 16 ) of the excavating machine ( 10 ).

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for the continuous renewal of a ballast bed of an excavation region comprising a substrate on which old ballast forming an old ballast bed is disposed and a track from which rails and sleepers have been removed, using (1) an excavating machine that comprises a removal device, a first conveying device operationally coupled to the removal device, a second conveying device and running gear, and (2) a plurality of transport carriages, said method comprising:
 moving the excavating machine so that the removal device travels in a working direction (x), 
 continuously excavating material, by said removal device picking up at least the old ballast of the old ballast bed, 
 conveying away the material that is excavated from the excavation region, possibly for ballast cleaning, and at the same time, 
 continuously depositing, using said second conveying device, one of a cleaned and a new ballast in the working direction (x) on the substrate from which the old ballast has been removed, to form a new ballast bed, 
 wherein the removal device, as part of an excavating machine traveling in the working direction (x) on the old ballast bed, is arranged downstream of the running gear of the excavating machine, 
 wherein the old ballast, which is excavated by the removal device from the old ballast bed, is conveyed by said first conveying device as excavated material in the working direction (x) into a first transport carriage, which is provided upstream of the excavating machine and can travel on the old ballast bed, 
 wherein at least one of cleaned ballast or new ballast is conveyed from the first transport carriage counter to the working direction (x) to a location downstream of the removal device and is deposited onto the substrate from which the old ballast has been removed, and 
 wherein at least one of said plurality of transport carriages is a rail running carriage positioned on a rails ending at the old ballast bed to be removed and is provided for the supply and removal of materials and at least another of said plurality of transport carriages is a shuttle carriage that shuttles between said excavating machine or another transport carriage and said rail running carriage. 
 
     
     
       2. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further characterized in that the first transport carriage comprises a ballast cleaning unit and the old ballast, wherein the method further comprises:
 covering the substrate downstream of the removal device with an underlay made of geotextile or geogrid; 
 cleaning the old ballast which is conveyed from the removal device to the first transport carriage in the ballast cleaning unit to form cleaned ballast, and 
 conveying the cleaned ballast to a location on the substrate that is downstream of the removal device and depositing the cleaned ballast onto the substrate from which the old ballast has been removed and which is covered by the underlay made of geotextile or geogrid. 
 
     
     
       3. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further characterized in that the first transport carriage contains new ballast and sand separately from each other, wherein the method further comprises:
 conveying new ballast and sand from the first transport carriage separately to a location on the substrate that is downstream of the removal device, and 
 depositing said new ballast and said sand as separate layers onto the substrate from which the old ballast has been removed. 
 
     
     
       4. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the first transport carriage is a shuttle carriage that shuttles, for at least one of loading and unloading, between the excavating machine and a second transport carriage which is positioned on rails ending at the ballast bed to be removed and provided for the supply and removal of materials. 
     
     
       5. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the first transport carriage remains stationary in the excavating machine and a third transport carriage is a shuttle carriage that shuttles, for at least one of loading and unloading, between the first transport carriage and a second transport carriage which is positioned on rails ending at the ballast bed to be removed and provided for the supply and removal of materials. 
     
     
       6. An arrangement for continuous renewal of a ballast bed of an excavation region comprising a substrate on which old ballast forming an old ballast bed is disposed and a track from which rails and sleepers have been removed, comprising:
 an excavating machine having a removal device, a conveying means comprising a first conveying device operationally coupled to the removal device and a second conveying device, and running gear which can travel on the old ballast bed in a working direction (x), said removal device being arranged downstream of the running gear of the excavating machine, 
 at least one transport carriage for at least one of loading and unloading of materials which are produced/required during renewal of a ballast bed, 
 optionally a ballast and sand distributing machine, and 
 said conveying means being operative for transporting the materials which are produced/required during renewal of a ballast bed, 
 wherein a first transport carriage has a first loading plane for the interim storage of excavated material and a second loading plane arranged above the first loading plane for the interim storage of at least one of new ballast and sand and the second loading plane for the supply of at least one of new ballast and sand can be lowered for the purposes of lowering the center of gravity (S) of the first transport carriage and can be raised above the first loading plane for increasing the size of the loading volume which is provided for the interim storage of excavated material, and 
 wherein at least one of the excavating machine, the ballast and sand distributing machine and the transport carriages, is equipped with an alternately usable tracked running gear and a rail running gear. 
 
     
     
       7. The arrangement as claimed in  claim 6 , characterized in that the excavating machine further comprises a swivel arm, and wherein the removal device and a ballast silo provided for the depositing of ballast are arranged on the swivel arm which can swivel about a vertical axis of rotation (z) and a horizontal pitch axis (y). 
     
     
       8. The arrangement as claimed in  claim 6 , characterized in that the removal device is a feed screw or an impeller wheel. 
     
     
       9. The arrangement as claimed in  claim 6 , characterized in that one of the transport carriages comprises a ballast cleaning unit. 
     
     
       10. The arrangement as claimed in  claim 6 , characterized in that the loading surfaces of the transport carriages are embodied as conveyor belts. 
     
     
       11. The arrangement as claimed in  claim 6  characterized in that the ballast and sand distributing machine comprises a swivel arm which can swivel about a vertical axis of rotation (z) and a horizontal pitch axis (y) and two silos, which are provided for depositing of sand and new ballast and are arranged on the swivel arm. 
     
     
       12. The arrangement as claimed in  claim 11 , characterized in that the silos are equipped at their lower end with a compressor. 
     
     
       13. The transport carriage as claimed in  claim 6 , characterized in that the loading planes are embodied as conveyor belts. 
     
     
       14. The transport carriage as claimed in  claim 6 , characterized in that the transport carriage is equipped, for traveling on the ballast bed and on tracks, with an alternately usable tracked running gear and a rail running gear.